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Topic: Step 1: Charge your battery (Read 2522 times)

Charging the battery should always be your first step when you are building or troubleshooting your saber. There are any number of issues that can occur when your battery is low. Many new builders are quick to assume something is broken when their newly constructed saber seems to be malfunctioning. There are, of course, plenty of things that can go wrong, but the heart of your saber is it's power source and your electronics need a properly functioning battery to behave properly.

Common issues from a low battery:- crackling from the speaker- constantly rebooting saber- blade won't ignite- blade ignites, but color is wrong/dim/"brown"- blade ignites, but saber immediately shuts off

These issues are especially pronounced in power hungry pixel blades.

Keep in mind, it is possible that your charger is malfunctioning. An inexpensive multimeter is your best friend, you easily read the power level of your battery by setting it to DC Voltmeter and connecting the +/POS and -/COM/GND probes to the appropriate side of the battery.

Compared to the cost of building your wonderful noisy flashlight, the cost difference between the best 18650 you can buy and some cheap junk is truly insignificant. The battery is not the place where you should cut corners. Buy a protected cell that can output the current required by your saber. For most Star LED type sabers a 3A cell will suffice. For pixel blades you'll want a cell from a trusted brand that can output 10A.

Charging the battery should always be your first step when you are building or troubleshooting your saber. There are any number of issues that can occur when your battery is low. Many new builders are quick to assume something is broken when their newly constructed saber seems to be malfunctioning. There are, of course, plenty of things that can go wrong, but the heart of your saber is it's power source and your electronics need a properly functioning battery to behave properly.

Common issues from a low battery:- crackling from the speaker- constantly rebooting saber- blade won't ignite- blade ignites, but color is wrong/dim/"brown"- blade ignites, but saber immediately shuts off

These issues are especially pronounced in power hungry pixel blades.

Keep in mind, it is possible that your charger is malfunctioning. An inexpensive multimeter is your best friend, you easily read the power level of your battery by setting it to DC Voltmeter and connecting the +/POS and -/COM/GND probes to the appropriate side of the battery.

Compared to the cost of building your wonderful noisy flashlight, the cost difference between the best 18650 you can buy and some cheap junk is truly insignificant. The battery is not the place where you should cut corners. Buy a protected cell that can output the current required by your saber. For most Star LED type sabers a 3A cell will suffice. For pixel blades you'll want a cell from a trusted brand that can output 10A.

Iíve had great experiences with Acebeamís 18650 and 21700 batteries. Both are protected, have 20A cutoffs and have good capacities. The 18650 is 3100 mAh and the 21700 is 5000 mAh. The 21700 are especially good and fit very nicely in chassis designed for 18650 keystone holders. Just pop the tabs directly on the chassis and the 21700 pops right in, giving 2/3 more runtime.